A pool light can illuminate the pool from under the surface of the water. A niche assembly provides a way to mount the pool light to a side wall of a pool. As used herein, a pool is used generically to refer to a tank for holding water. Examples of such tanks are recreational swimming pools, spas, and aquariums.
Conventional lighting fixture assemblies for mounting pool lights are known. The niche assembly usually includes a niche, which houses various components that comprise the pool light, such as, the lamp, the lamp socket, and wires leading to the lamp socket. The niche is typically inside mounted, that is, inserted through an opening in the side wall from the inside the pool. A gasket that provides a watertight seal is located between the inner surface of the pool wall and a flange of the niche. The housing has external threads that extend beyond the outer surface of the pool wall. A ring nut with internal threads is used to mount the niche on the wall of the swimming pool by engaging the threads. Thus, the side wall of the swimming pool is captured between the nut and the combination of the flange and gasket.
Although suitable for some pool installations, the conventional niche assembly is cumbersome to mount to the pool wall, and often requires a special tool, such as a plumber's wrench, to grasp the ring nut and provide the torque necessary to tighten the ring nut sufficiently enough to obtain a watertight seal. Furthermore, there must be a means for preventing the niche from rotating as the ring nut is tightened. Oftentimes, two installers are necessary to mount the niche assembly. One inside the pool to hold the niche to prevent it from rotating, and one outside the pool to rotate the ring nut. This doubling of labor can increase the cost of the installation.
Moreover, the ring nut can loosen, and the pool light can wobble. It can be costly to re-tighten a loose pool light after installation is complete. An adhesive can be used to secure the ring nut, but this can increase the time and cost to install the pool light.
Instead of using fiberglass pool walls, it is known to install a vinyl lining over pressboard or metal walls of the pool to make the pool watertight. A conventional fitting assembly for a vinyl-lined pool uses a fitting and faceplate combination. The fitting has a flange with a rear surface that contacts the inside pool wall. A gasket and a faceplate hold the vinyl liner against the flange to provide a watertight seal.
Although suitable for some pool installations, the vinyl lining can tear at the edge of the flange because the flange's front surface is not flush with the inside pool wall. Thus, a step is formed from the pool wall to the flange's front surface that the vinyl lining must follow. If the lie of vinyl lining does not follow the step, e.g., it is stretched tight allowing an air gap between the vinyl liner and the lap of the step, a swimmer brushing up against the vinyl liner can cause the vinyl to puncture. Accordingly, the pool would leak and the water can cause damage.
Moreover, conventional niche assemblies are typically mounted to the pool wall by screws through holes around the flange. There are typically about four to ten holes in the flange. Installation requires drilling holes into the pool wall that perfectly match the holes in the flange, aligning the gasket to the drilled holes and the flange to the drilled holes, ensuring the niche assembly is properly oriented, and screwing the screws throught the flange and gasket into the holes in the pool wall. This is a labor intensive procedure with opportunity for error. For example, the holes may not be drilled to match the flange holes, and, even if the holes are drilled correctly, the niche can be mounted with an improper orientation as it may be rotated one or more holes from proper orientation. A need therefore exists for a niche assembly, and methods therefore, that does not require a special tool to mount the niche assembly to the pool wall, can be mounted by a single installer, will not easily loosen with time and wear, mitigates punctures of the vinyl liner around the pool light in a vinyl-lined pool installation, and is not labor intensive or error prone.